A Leek and a Ring
by WhiteStarXBlueFlame
Summary: When Ryou Bakura receives a Vocaloid software, weird things start happening. It turns out to be the cause a certain turquoise-haired girl named Miku Hatsune, and she seems to hold immense power. Can Ryou protect her from others who wish to take her power?
1. Chapter 1

_(Hi! I just wanted you to know that this story was written a while ago, and then the way I write things is a bit different now, so sorry if this looks really goofy and stuff! XD Thanks for reading)_

**_A Leek and a Ring_**

Prologue

Since the dawn of time, music has played its song for humanity. It is a key factor in our lives, surely something the universe wouldn't be the same without. Some people don't understand the beauty of music, you see. Music can open up doors to other worlds. It has inspired people to do good things, with its lyrics and melodies. People have changed the world with music. It's very simple-one person can do so just by writing one song. That's all it takes, and because of that reason, music is one of the most powerful things known to man.

But of course, this great power has its dark side. Not all music is good and pure. Some songs have caused people to do horrible, sinful things. When I said one song could change the world, I did not mean that this change would be good. One song can surely change the world, indeed. But this one song could bring out the evil in everyone. This song could make people become horrible demons who enjoy the pain of others. Hard to believe? I know it is, but that's all it takes. One song that will sing out what people think is the truth is truly only sin.

Since one sinful song is all it takes to make humanity riot, the gods above must use all of their power to maintain music. They would need nothing but virtuous music to keep humanity pure. They would need something (or someone) who would keep the powers of good music safe. Someone who would encourage humanity to do good things for the world with the power of this pure music.

So, the gods created something known as Vocaloid.

Vocaloid would be a synthesizer that you could upload onto your computer. One could type certain words at certain pitches to create a song using a voice that came from a human. You see, a person could insert a bunch of words at a bunch of different pitches into the synthesizer to create their Vocaloid. Each Vocaloid has their own specific voice and character image. That character's image was on the cover of the box that the synthesizer was in. (The gods also created UTAU-or, Utauloid if you prefer-because people were getting all whiny over how expensive a Vocaloid was, "WAAAH! WAAAH! THIS IS TOO EXPENSIVE! IT'S LIKE, TONS OF YEN!", so they made the UTAUs free to download. But, we'll save the story of the UTAUs for some other time.)

But the true purpose of the Vocaloid was, of course, to spread the virtue of music throughout the world. And fortunately, the gods succeeded in their attempt. The Vocaloids were incredibly famous all over the world. People would stop and listen to whatever new song came out that was sung by one of these Vocaloids.

It seemed that the Vocaloids were the pure embodiments of music itself. They sang songs about everything- from love songs to sad songs, from jazz to country, from rock to pop. But, what some people don't know is that the first Vocaloids weren't very successful. The first five, Leon, Lola, Miriam, Meiko, and Kaito sold horribly. No one seemed to pay attention to these wonderful music-makers. It wasn't until _she_ came that Vocaloid became popular. It's _her_ that Vocaloid owns its success to. This very special girl is the one who _truly_ started it all.

The gods made her the chosen one. The chosen Vocaloid who would lead the world into a golden age of music. This girl would change the world forever. She would make the world laugh, cry, scream, smile, and sing. Her name, you ask? Her name is…

…Miku Hatsune.

Chapter 1

"It's true! I'm not lying! I _really_ saw it!"

"Yeah, sure you did. Like how you saw a UFO up in the hills the other night?"

"Okay, I admit, that was probably a mushroom induced hallucination, but I'm telling you, what I saw last night was _real!_"

"Give it up already, Jonouchi…"

The girl with blue eyes and chestnut-colored hair, Anzu Mazaki, scolded the boy with blond hair and hazel eyes, Katsuya Jonouchi. Anzu was a proud and courageous girl. She wouldn't let anybody keep her down, her confidence shining brighter than any girl's confidence in the entire school. She had a dream to grow up and move to New York to become a Broadway dancer, and she was determined to keep that dream.

Jonouchi was a strong fighter, totally serious when it came down to a fight. But, he's truly goofy and friendly, as proud and confident as Anzu. The winner of almost all of his fights, Katsuya Jonouchi is not to be taken lightly.

They both wore school uniforms- the girl's, having a pink jacket with a blue skirt and a matching bowtie, and the boy's, a basic boy's blue uniform, only his jacket was unbuttoned so that his white shirt underneath was showing.

"Come on, Yugi! You gotta back me up on this!" Jonouchi said to another boy standing next to him.

This boy had spiky, multi-colored hair that was basically shaped like a star. It seemed like his original hair color was black, but he dyed the edges a magenta color, and his bangs were dyed yellow. This boy was a bit shorter than the rest of the group, and he wore his school uniform in a punk style. He wore a choker around his neck and he wore an unusual looking golden, pyramid shaped pendant on a chain. He was the King of Games, Yugi Mutou.

Yugi was meek and shy, but incredibly friendly and fun once you got to know him. He was the King of Duelists, the best at Duel Monsters. When armed with his Millennium Puzzle, you couldn't beat him in a game. Just like Jonouchi, he was not to be taken lightly with.

"Well, Jonouchi…I don't know if such a thing exists…" Yugi said nervously.

"Ah, what?! Not you, too!" Jonouchi groaned, giving himself a face-palm.

"You probably just ate poisonous mushrooms again, Jonouchi. Why fret over a hallucination?" A brown haired boy with brown eyes said, wrapping his arm around Hher name,Hhhh

Jonouchi's shoulder. He wore the same blue school uniform as the blond boy, also opening the jacket to where he could show his white t-shirt underneath.

He was Hiroto Honda, a boy just as tough as Jonouchi. Honda was always there to cheer on Yugi and us, helping us all when times got hard. Brave with a strong will, this teenager was good with a gun, so…I wouldn't make an enemy of him if I were you.

"I did _not _eat any poisonous mushrooms last night! I would know if I did. There would be a horrible stomach ache followed by deadly diarrhea…" Jonouchi said, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"We don't want to hear about your diarrhea, Jonouchi…" The chestnut-colored hair girl said.

"Well, pick, woman! Do you want me to talk about Bigfoot or my diarrhea? 'Cuz those are the only two things on my mind right now!" He complained.

Jonouchi turned to face me. "Well, what do _you_ think, Bakura? Do you believe me?"

"Um…" I couldn't really say yes. I mean, I guess that nothing is impossible, but I don't think Jonouchi of all people saw Bigfoot.

"No, eh? I see…" Jonouchi said disappointed.

"Where exactly did you see the so-called Bigfoot, anyways?" Honda asked.

"At the park last night! He was messin' around with the trees and bushes and stuff! He was big and furry and brown and-"

"-Did he have big feet?" Honda asked, cutting Jonouchi off in the middle of his sentence.

"…I didn't check." Jonouchi replied.

"You know, sometimes people are hired to go and trim the trees and bushes." Yugi said.

"Then why was he out late at night?" Jonouchi asked.

"So that they don't bother anybody who's playing at the park during the day." Yugi answered.

"W-Well, why was he so tall and furry?!"

"It was probably cold outside. He was more than likely wearing a coat. And a lot of people are tall. That doesn't mean that they're Bigfoot."

Yugi seemed to have an answer for every one of Jonouchi's questions. I suppose Jonouchi gave up on the thought of there being such a thing as Bigfoot…

"…I still believe he's out there, though!" Jonouchi yelled hopefully.

…or maybe not.

"It's nice to dream. A guy needs a fantasy every once in a while to keep himself unstressed." Honda said, smiling.

"I've gotta get going, guys. Grandpa wanted me to help him clean the store today." Yugi said.

"See you tomorrow, Yugi!" Anzu waved goodbye.

"Bye!" Yugi said, running up the sidewalk.

Jonouchi put a proud smile on his face. "You know, I got a feeling that something great is gonna happen today! I just know it!"

"What are you going on about now?" Honda asked.

"Call it a superstition, if you will. But I can feel it! I could bet _money_ on the fact that something amazing will happen!"

"Too bad you don't have any money to bet on." Honda said.

"Oh, I see! Pick on the poor boy!" Jonouchi grinned sarcastically.

"Am I wrong?" Honda laughed.

Jonouchi thought for a moment. "…No." He said.

My name is Ryou Bakura. You see, the spotlight isn't shed on me much, but this time…I'm sure there's something to be said, right? My hair is long and white, and yes, it's unusual, but please don't make a fuss over it. (For every time a person went on about my hair, it would make up all of the stars in the sky, for goodness sake…) I go to Domino High School with the rest of my friends.

Suddenly, someone ran into Jonouchi and pushed him over.

"Whoa! 'Scuze me, buddy!" He said.

The man who ran into Jonouchi obviously didn't care that he pushed him onto the ground on accident. He gathered around a large crowd of people in front of a market.

"Huh? What's with the crowd?" Honda asked.

"Maybe there's a big sale?" Anzu implied.

All of us went to go check out the reason for all of this commotion.

A banner hung above a large stand in front of the store. It read "Lawson Inc. Sweepstakes". The crowd in front of it was going absolutely mad, rioting loudly.

Jonouchi grabbed the shoulder of a man in the crowd.

" 'Scuse me, would you mind telling me what the big fuss is about?" Jonouchi asked.

The man scoffed. "Don't you know? Anyone who buys something from this store and presents the receipt to the lady up front gets to participate in the sweepstakes!"

"…And?" Jonouchi asked, confused.

"The winner gets one hundred thousand yen, or-" The man explained until Jonouchi cut him off in mid-sentence.

"ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEN?!" Jonouchi exclaimed. "COUNT ME IN!"

"But Jonouchi, you don't have any money to buy something from this store to get a receipt. And, I don't think you have an old receipt from this store on you right now, right?" Honda said.

Jonouchi growled. "Ha ha ha. Yeah. Well, just so you know, I don't have money on me a lot, but when I _do _get it, I work for it. Unlike you, who sits on his butt like a pansy while his parents hand him their money, thank you very much."

Honda blushed and didn't say another word.

Jonouchi sighed. Then, he looked at the rest of us with an innocent look on his face.

"Can I borrow some money from one of you guys? _PLEASE?_" He whined.

Anzu, Honda, and I looked at each other.

"I don't have any money on me right now. Sorry." Anzu said.

"Me neither." Honda said.

The three of them then locked their eyes on me.

"Well? What about you, Bakura?" Jonouchi said, putting a mischievous grin on his face while rubbing his hands together.

"Um…I…uh…" I muttered.

I sighed. I guess I had no choice. I just couldn't lie to Jonouchi, telling him I have no money. So, I pulled out my wallet.

"Here. Go buy an ice-cream or something." I smiled, handing Jonouchi some money.

Suddenly, Jonouchi's face lit up like fireworks. "Bakura…"

He took the money in his hands. "You're…so…kind…"

Then, Jonouchi started jumping in the air, yelling.

"WOO-HOO! I'M GONNA WIN MYSELF SOME MONEY!"

"What makes you think you're gonna win that money, Jonouchi?" Honda asked, crossing his arms.

Jonouchi belted out one of his proud laughs. "Like I said, Honda! I've gotta feeling something great will happen today! This must be it!"

Jonouchi patted my back. "Huh?" What was he doing?

"Bakura, because of your generosity, I promise that if I win this, I'll share the winnings with ya! Whaddaya say?" He smiled.

"W-What? No! You don't have to do that! I'm fine!" My face felt hot. I think I was blushing.

"I'll be right back!" Jonouchi yelled, running into the store.

Honda sighed. "Poor Bakura. Jonouchi's gone and stolen his perfectly good money. He could've used it for something worth of value, like food or clothes. But, Jonouchi wastes it on some crappy sweepstakes."

"Honda! Come on! Have a little faith in him, would you?" Anzu said.

"Anzu, if I'm going to have faith in Jonouchi for anything, it has to be either fighting or Duel Monsters. Anything else other than that…well, let's just say that Jonouchi is pretty much just screwed." Honda explained.

"You really _are_ being a huge buzzkill today, you know that?" Anzu sighed.

Honda laughed. "Well, I gotta get going. Tell me whether or not dog boy wins at school tomorrow, would you?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow, Honda." Anzu waved.

"Goodbye!" I said.

"See ya." Honda waved, walking home.

Jonouchi ran out of the store with a plastic bag in his right hand and a receipt in his left.

"Huh? Where'd Honda go?" He asked, looking around.

"He said he had to go home." Anzu said.

"Too bad. He won't be able to witness this amazing spectacle." Jonouchi said, handing me the plastic bag.

"Here, eat this. I'm gonna go win myself some money!" He turned around, pushing himself through the crowd.

"Cross your fingers." Anzu said. "He'll need the luck."

I crossed my fingers and looked in the plastic bag. There was ice-cream sitting alone at the bottom. I couldn't help but unwrap the treat and eat it.

Me and Anzu watched Jonouchi hand in his receipt to the woman up front. She showed him a big box with a circle shaped hole at the top.

"Katsuya Jonouchi, you say?" The woman asked.

"Yes, ma'am!" Jonouchi said confidently.

"Okay. So here's how to play-you reach your hand into the box and pull out a ball. That ball will be a specific color. If it's red, green, blue, or yellow, you will only win a consolation prize. But, if you pull out a golden ball, you win a grand prize." The woman explained.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Jonouchi rubbed his hands together. He took a deep breath and put his hand in the box.

"You can do it, Jonouchi!" Anzu yelled.

"Good luck!" I yelled with a mouth full of ice-cream.

Jonouchi looked at us and gave us a thumbs-up.

"This guy is gonna lose." One girl said.

"This thing _has_ to be rigged! I tried ten times and I only won cup ramen every time!" Another girl said.

Jonouchi ignored the comments and pulled out a ball.

At that very moment, it seemed like the entire world held its breath.

Jonouchi closed his eyes when he pulled out the ball. When he opened them, his eyes widened.

"Well, I'll be damned…" He said.

When the crowd saw what color ball Jonouchi had pulled out, some groaned in disappointment. But, most of the crowd cheered for him.

Jonouchi had pulled out a golden ball! He actually won!

"I…I DID IT!" Jonouchi held up the golden ball in victory.

Anzu and I ran up to him.

"I can't believe it! You won the grand prize!" Anzu yelled.

"Congratulations, Jonouchi!" I said.

Jonouchi held the ball in his hands. He stared at it in awe. Then he smiled at me.

"I couldn't have done it without ya, Bakura!" Jonouchi said wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Don't thank me! You're the one who pulled out the ball!" I said.

Jonouchi slammed the golden colored ball onto the table.

"Well, let's see the prize!" He said proudly.

"Alright! Here you go!" The woman said, handing Jonouchi a small, cardboard box. It looked about the size of a book. Maybe that was what the money was in. But, if it's a check, then why did the store go to the trouble of putting it in a box?

Jonouchi started tearing the box open.

"Oh, man! I can't believe it! I got a-"Jonouchi was suddenly silenced. He stared blankly at the open box in his hands.

"What's wrong, Jonouchi?" Anzu asked.

Me and Anzu looked at what was in Jonouchi's hands.

"Oh." Anzu said, understanding why Jonouchi suddenly stopped talking.

In Jonouchi's hands was certainly _not_ a check for one hundred thousand yen. It was…something I have never seen before…

"Wh…What is this?" Jonouchi asked the woman.

"Huh? You don't know what it is?" She asked, tilting her head in confusion.

I stared at the strange thing in Jonouchi's hands. It was a thin, light blue colored box. On the cover of the box was a girl with turquoise pig-tails. On her right shoulder was a tattoo that read "01". She wore a gray shirt with the sleeves cut off, and turquoise ruffles lined the edges of the shirt. Her black arm-warmers had different colored digital bars on it, and so did her skirt. Wrapped around her skirt was a turquoise belt. Her sleek, black boots went above her knees and just below her skirt. The soles of her boots were turquoise like her hair. She wore black headphones with a small microphone sticking out of it, where she could sing into it. Next to this unusual, robotic looking girl was a name written in dark pink. The name was…

"Miku Hatsune is her name. She's something called a 'Vocaloid'. You see, a 'Vocaloid' is a new singing synthesizer that you upload onto your computer. You use this software to create songs. You type in lyrics and melody into the synthesizer to create a song, using vocals borrowed from a professional singer." The woman explained.

"Really…How interesting…" Jonouchi said sarcastically. "How come I got _this_ thing instead of the one hundred thousand yen?"

"Didn't you know? There are _two_ grand prizes in this sweepstakes. So there are _two _golden balls. You pulled out golden ball number two, so you won grand prize number two. Get it?" The woman said.

"Y-Yeah…thanks…" Jonouchi said sadly.

"You're welcome! Now, who wants to try for the one hundred thousand yen?" The woman yelled.

"ME! I WANT TO!" A man yelled, shoving Jonouchi out of his way.

Suddenly, the crowd started rioting again. So, the three of us ran to a safe point where we wouldn't be trampled by the large crowd.

Jonouchi sighed in disappointment. "What am I supposed to do with _this_ stupid thing?"

"Well, do you have a computer?" Anzu asked.

"No…" Jonouchi replied sadly.

Poor Jonouchi. He wanted that money so badly.

To my surprise, Jonouchi held the software out to me.

"What?" I said, shocked.

"Here. Take it. You have a computer, right?" Jonouchi asked.

"Yes, but-"

"-then _take _it. You deserve it more than I do, anyways."

"Well…"

A synthesizer that you write songs with? But…I don't even know where to _start_ when it comes to writing songs.

"Come on. Have some fun with it. Even if you don't know how to write songs, it might be a nice thing to play around with every once in a while." Jonouchi said.

I guess I might as well take it.

"Alright…thanks a lot, Jonouchi. I appreciate it!" I said, taking the blue box into my hands.

"Thanks for the help in the sweepstakes, Bakura. Since it was your money that helped me win, so the prize should be yours." He said.

"Thank you. I'll try it out when I get home!" I said.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, kid!" Jonouchi waved goodbye.

"Bye, Bakura! Goodnight!" Anzu smiled and waved as well.

"Goodnight!" I waved back at Jonouchi and Anzu.

I heard the two of them talking to each other.

"So, win anything other than money and dump it on Bakura, eh?" Anzu joked.

"HEY!" Jonouchi yelled.

The two of them laughed, and I smiled. I walked home holding the little blue box in my hands.

I unlocked the front door of my apartment and walked in. I set down my school bag and headed for the computer.

I sat down and opened the light blue box with the turquoise hair girl on it. I pulled out a disc and turned on the computer. I inserted the disc into the computer. After that…I had no idea what to do. I fiddled around, trying to see what I should have done, but no such luck. I guess this wasn't very well thought out…

So, I went online trying to find out how to install this thing. So, apparently I'm supposed to use this… Okay…so I highlight this…and then I click on that…and then I'm supposed to drag this here and open up one of these…ugh! I just can't get the hang of it! There's so much to do and it's all so confusing!

I was determined to get this Vocaloid thing all straightened out. I messed with it until dark, but I still didn't getting anything out of it. It was getting late, and I considered going to bed. But, I didn't even make it to my bed. I fell asleep at the computer.

I woke up with a start the next morning. The computer was turned off, and the Vocaloid's box lay next to it. Then, I suddenly remembered school.

"Oh, no!" I stood up from the position I was in, and something fell off of me. I looked down and saw a blanket on the floor.

What? How did that get on me? I don't remember putting a blanket on myself last night…

I ignored that and checked the time. Looking at the time, I saw that I most certainly was going to be late for school.

"AH! NO! COME ON!" I gasped, gathering up everything I would for school.

Since I fell asleep in my school uniform, I could check that off the list. As I ran out the door, I smelled something. Something…_delicious._

It was coming from the kitchen. When I went to see what it was, I saw what looked like egg wrapped in bacon, and in the egg were some…_leeks?_

"Wh…what?!" I couldn't believe my eyes. It was as if someone snuck into my home and took care of me last night. Maybe I was sleep-walking…yeah, that had to be it.

But this meal-this beautiful, delicious dish that was surprisingly still warm-how did I just get up and make something as amazing looking as this? I couldn't help but taste it, wherever it had come from. And it-was-_awesome._ It was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. The bacon gave it a salty taste while the leek gave it a sweet sort of taste.

I was halfway through the thing before I realized that school was still something I had to go to.

I was disappointed to leave the brilliant snack as I grabbed my schoolbag. I hastily ran out the door to the sunny morning outside.

As I stepped outside, I saw the apartment next to mine had its door open. You could hear the television from the inside blaring the comedy it was showing. Sitting on a dirty and worn out green couch in front of the television was Miss Takanaga, my new next-door neighbor.

"Good morning, ma'am!" I said.

"Piss off."

"Okay…"

Poor Miss Takanaga. She must have been dumped by another one of her boyfriends last night. She's usually so nice, but if you push too many of her buttons…

Oh, things are just refusing to go right today, aren't they?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"You didn't."

"I did."

…

"…you just love to mock my pain, don't you? You bastard…" Honda said.

"You're just jealous-HEY, WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Jonouchi yelled angrily. "But…I didn't win what you'd _think _I'd win."

"…What do you mean?" Honda tilted his head.

"Well…um…it's kind of hard to explain to explain…BAKURA!"

I jumped when he called my name. He was right next to me. Why do he have to scream it so loud?...

"Tell him what that thingy was!" Jonouchi said, pointing his thumb at Honda.

"The…'thingy'?"

"Yeah! The thingy! You know, the thingy I gave you yesterday!" He smiled.

"Oh! The thingy!" I said, suddenly understanding.

"-Okay, just so you guys know, this conversation sounds somewhat disturbing. What the hell do you mean by 'thingy'?!" Honda cut in.

"The…the…" Jonouchi stared blankly as he tried to remember the name of the product he won.

"Vocaloid." I said.

"Oh, yeah!"

"Oh, thank god…"Honda sighed in relief.

"So, how's it working for ya?" Jonouchi asked.

"It's…it's fine." I lied. I think the Vocaloid hated me. Every time I tried to make it work, it was as if it spat in my face, saying "You're not worthy of uploading me to your computer! Your computer moves slower than my grandma!"

"Great! Now…" He turned to Honda. Jonouchi tore a piece of paper off of his back.

"Could you explain this?!" Jonouchi yelled, shoving the paper in Honda's face.

The paper read, "Will bark for food."

Honda laughed. "Yeah, I put it there! Isn't it funny? Because, you know, 'dog'? And you're-"

"-YEAH, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I GET IT. OH, THAT'S SOOOOOOOOOOO FUNNY! HAHAHA."

Jonouchi looked as if he was about to pounce.

"Y-you know…it was just a friendly joke…come on, Jonouchi…" Honda laughed nervously. "…Jonouchi?"

Jonouchi scoffed. "Ya think it's funny to stick things on people's backs?" He hesistated, then pulled out a slimy green booger out of his nose. The class grossed out in unison. "Okay. I'm good with that. But what if I stuck _THIS _on your back?!" Jonouchi laughed, shoving the booger in Honda's face.

Honda screamed, waving his hands in the air as Jonouchi chased him. I don't think that there was a person in the room who _didn't _laugh.

Anzu stepped forward. "Honda did that to me once, too."

"Really? What did yours say?" I asked.

She scoffed. "'I'm desperate'. What, does he think I couldn't find a man? Why, I have all of the men here groveling at my feet! I just can't pick one, that's all!"

School ended that day without anything unusual happening. Everyone walked home like normal. We said our goodbyes for the day and headed home.

I passed Miss Takanaga's apartment on the way home. Her door was still wide open, and I could see Miss Takanaga and one of her friends sitting on the couch talking to each other, drinking beer.

"HEY, KID! WANT SOMETHIN' TO DRINK?!" Miss Takanaga laughed, obviously drunk.

"He's too young to drink, Kagome." Her friend said.

"Oh…too bad…oh, I got leftovers! Want some, uh…'Bakana'?" Miss Taganaga said, trying to guess my name.

"Uh, no thanks. And it's Bakura, not Bakana."

"What? PFFFFFFFT-HA! Sorry, kid!" She laughed.

When I walked through the door of my apartment, I realized the true beauty of having privacy, even for just a little while.

I set my schoolbag down and glanced at the computer.

_Should I give it another try?..._

I turned on the computer. The bright screen hurt my eyes.

When the home screen finally popped up, I gasped. I was so surprised to see what new icon had shown up.

"VOCALOID2 EDITOR," It read.

_What?_ _I don't remember even getting close to downloading the darn thing. How did it…?_

I clicked on it, and after a few moments, a new screen popped up. The synthesizer had a keyboard interface that looked like the place where you were supposed to type in the lyrics for a song. I guessed that the keys represented the…well, _keys._

I randomly typed in "Hello" on one of the keys.

A soft, high-pitched, feminine sounding voice sang "_Hello_".

I kept on messing with it. I typed in, "I'm hungry".

"_I'm hungry,_" The voice moaned.

_This is kind of fun,_ I thought.

"_I love profiteroles~"_ I made the voice say.

But then, I realized that unless I know how to write some songs, this Vocaloid thing is useless. Just making the voice say a bunch of random stuff all of the time seemed…_creepy_…

_Something as amazing as this shouldn't go to waste. Maybe I should give it back to Jonouchi. Maybe he could sell it or something…_

"_Hey,_" The voice said.

I jumped, startled. _Did I type that in? There's no way it just said that on its own…is it supposed to do that?_

"_I…hate…profiteroles…"_ The voice whined.

I stood up. This was getting freaky.

"W-what?!" I yelled.

"_They're…too…sweet…" _It continued.

_How would a synthesizer even know what a profiterole tastes like?_

"Who…who are you?" I asked nervously.

"_You…should…know…it…"_ The voice said blankly.

"Know what?"

"_My…name…pathetic…mortal…"_

_PATHETIC MORTAL?! _So, I came down to a conclusion; my computer was possessed.

"_I'll…swallow…"_

"Huh?!"

"…_YOUR SOUL!"_

I doubled over and regrettably started screaming like a girl.

I was paralyzed in fear. I didn't think about getting up and running away-I just sat there like one of those fools in a horror movie.

Suddenly, a cheerful laugh filled the air. It sounded like the voice from the synthesizer, except this time, it sounded like a human was speaking, and not a robot.

"_Silly humans, so frightened by something so silly."_ It said.

I got up, finally, and ran to the door. I twisted the knob, but the door wouldn't open.

"No! Come on, open!"

But no matter how hard I tried, it just wouldn't budge. I was trapped. I laid my back up against the door.

"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!" I yelled.

I suddenly gasped in fear at a terrifying thought that crossed my mind.

"No…it's not…it can't be…"

The voice snickered. "_Hell yeah, pretty boy. It's me."_

"…you're…the spirit of the Millennium Ring, aren't you?"

"_What? What the hell are you going on about, kid? I'm not a spirit, or a ghost, or a mummy, or a vampire, or a-"_

"…Th-then…what are you?"

The computer started flashing. Lights shined so brightly that I couldn't see anything.

After the blinding light had finally disappeared, I opened my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I opened them.

"Ah, yes. Here we are. Oh, it's been such a long time since my feet actually touched the ground. It makes me a little dizzy…"

What stood in front of me was a teenage girl, about five feet tall. She looked about sixteen years old. She had really,_ really_ long turquoise colored hair in pig-tails. Her features were…perfect. She was amazingly beautiful, so beautiful, in fact, that it was almost inhuman.

I looked at her strange, futuristic looking clothing and saw that she wore the exact same type of clothing as the girl on the Vocaloid box.

"You…you're…" I stammered. This girl…she didn't come out of the computer, did she? Is someone pranking me? Maybe this is the work of Jonouchi and Honda…yeah…

"Why, hello there, Profiterole Boy. How do you do? I hope you don't mind that I played a little joke on you there. I just couldn't help myself. But, oh, was it worth it. Your reaction made me laugh my ass off." The girl smiled. "Oh, and I hope you also don't mind that I checked your computer files for your name. Ryou Bakura, is it? Pleased to meet you."

I shivered. This…this was impossible…she didn't just…

"Ah! I apologize! Look at me, barging into your home without even properly introducing myself. Ryou Bakura…"

The girl put her hands on her hips. "…my name is Miku Hatsune, and I am a Vocaloid. Thank you ever so much for bringing me into your home! I'm sure that we're going to have so much fun writing songs together!" She giggled.

An evil smile came upon Miku's face. "Oh…and you better have some damn leeks for me, or it's gonna have to get messy in your clean little apartment, eh, Ryou?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Miku Hatsune. The synthesizer uploaded onto my computer. Is in. My. Home.

"Say, Ryou-chan! Do you have cable?" Miku said, settling herself down on the couch, turning on the television.

"I-I…uh…" I didn't know what to say.

"Oh, and before I forget…"

Miku got off of the couch and dug through the fridge in the kitchen.

"A-ha!" She said, finding what she was looking for.

Miku pulled out a big, ripe looking leek. She drooled at the very sight of it.

"Yummy…" She said, sitting back down onto the couch. She picked up the remote and started flipping through the TV channels, while snacking on the leek.

"Hey, Bleach is on!" Miku exclaimed, biting into her leek.

I finally got the strength to walk towards the girl. I turned off the TV and stood in front of Miku.

"Hey! Where'd Ichigo go?" She said, trying to look past me.

"I'm sorry, Hatsune-san, or…whoever you are…but you have to leave. I have no idea who you are or where you came from, but I do know that you have to leave. I'm not entertained by the prank you, Jonouchi, and Honda are playing on me."

"What?! Who's Jonouchi and Honda?!" Miku asked.

I sighed in frustration. "Please leave."

Miku put on a sad-puppy face and began to cry.

"What?" She whined softly.

"Yes. If you would…"

I stared at Miku's face. She looked absolutely pitiful. Her tears looked so real. She seemed to be so full of sorrow. I almost changed my mind about making her leave, but then I reminded myself that _she _was the one who barged into my home making a big fuss like this.

"P-Please…" I said, looking away from Miku.

She slowly stood up. She slumped to the door, sobbing softly.

"Don't cry, Hatsune…"

"It's…It's alright. Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine, living in the streets, cold and hungry. Maybe I can find a big cardboard box to make my home in. Maybe someone else will take me home. Maybe I'll actually have a real family. Maybe then I'll be happy…if someone took me home, which they probably won't. But, I'm sure I'll be happy someday…someday…" Miku said, opening the front door.

_Wait, how did she open the door when I couldn't?_

When she opened the door, a gust of cold, winter air blew into the room. It was dark outside, so dark that you couldn't see anything. What did Miku say? That she didn't have a family? She didn't have a home?

I couldn't take it anymore. What kind of person would I be to dump some helpless teenage girl out on the streets?

"Fine. You can stay. Just…_please _don't make that face anymore._ Please…" _I pleaded.

Suddenly, Miku's face lit up. A big, happy smile appeared on her face. She blushed and closed the door.

"Oh, Ryou…" Miku wiped the tears off of her face. She started running towards me, her arms spread out and prepared for a hug.

"Oh, no. Please, don't…no…" It was too late. Miku jumped on me, hugging me so hard that it was getting hard to breathe.

"Okay, okay! Your welcome! Will you please get off of me?" I yelled.

I heard a sob._ Oh, not again…_ Miku lifted her head up. Her nose was snotty and her eyes were wet. She sniffled and smiled.

"Thank you so much, Ry-I mean, Bakura-san." Miku said. She wiped her tears again. "You know, these are tears of happiness, not sadness!"

I tried to put on a smile. "Um, good…I think…"

Miku stared blankly at my face. She blinked and then smiled again.

"You have a pretty smile." She said.

I blushed. I could've sworn that my face was as red as a tomato at that very moment.

Miku looked away and shrieked.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" She screamed in my ear. _Ow…_

"WHAT?!" I said, putting my hands on my ears.

"THERE'S A FLY NEAR MY LEEK!" Miku yelled, pointing towards the couch.

She ran over to her leek and started swatting at the fly.

"SHOO! SHOO! DIE, YOU LITTLE-" She stopped yelling when she squished the bug in her hands. "Heh heh."

"Ew…"

Miku washed her hands at the kitchen sink.

"Well, I shall be finishing my snack if you need me." She said.

"But I _do _need you! Right now!" I said.

"What, do you need help with your homework or something? Listen, I may _come _from a computer, but I do not _think_ like a computer, meaning that I suck at Math. Good luck, though!"

"No, not my homework-tell me who you are! Where did you come from? Were you really in my computer?"

Miku picked up her leek. "Well, of _course_ I came from your computer! Where else do you think I could come from?"

"Uh…the front door?"

Miku sighed. "Come here. I'll explain."

Miku sat on the chair in front of the computer. She turned it on, going online to the internet. The homepage, Google, was where Miku typed in her full name, Miku Hatsune. Tons of results came up. There were links to videos of her on Youtube and Nico Nico Douga. There were hundreds-no-_thousands_ of pictures of her in the images section. It was overwhelming how many things on there were dedicated to her.

Something called Project Diva…something called MikuMikuDance…these things kept popping up whenever we looked up Miku Hatsune. And when her name came up, a bunch of other names came up too-names like Rin Kagamine, Len Kagamine, Meiko Sakine, Kaito Shion, Luka Megurine, Neru Akita, Haku Yowane, Teto Kasane…

"You seem to be very popular," I said.

"Ha! You think _that's _popular? Wait until you see this!" Miku clicked on one of the video links.

The link was to animated music video. It was beautifully drawn, and whoever drew it obviously put a lot of effort into it, capturing every single one of Miku's features. The song was called "World is Mine", and it was pretty catchy. It was about a girl (Miku) who was trying to get the attention of this guy she was on a date with.

"Wow…is this…really _you?_" I asked.

"Uh-huh," Miku said proudly. "Now look at the amount of views it has."

I scrolled down to look at the views, and it was a mind-blowing nine million views and rising.

"Whoa!"

"Uh-huh."

She had tons of other popular songs- "Ievan Polkka" (9,406,520 views), "PoPiPo" (7,560,025 views), "Triple Baka" (6,468,446 views), "Love is War" (2,443,891 views) "Melt" (1,420,203 views), and so many others that I couldn't tell you the exact number of songs she had in her name.

"These are all…all of them…are…"

"Yep. The world loves me, doesn't it?" Miku said proudly, putting her hands on her hips.

"I suppose so…but that doesn't answer my question."

"Oh. Yes…" Miku stood up. "You see, Vocaloid has a…_unusual _history."

"…What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well…it wasn't created by some nerdy Japanese guy in Spain like everyone thinks it was."

"Who made it, then?"

"The Egyptian Gods."

_And there it is…_

"The Egyptian Gods? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

There was an awkward silence between the two of us for a moment.

"So, everybody knows what music is, right?" Miku asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, it seems that music is a beautiful gift from the gods given to mankind. But, if it falls into the wrong hands, it can be used as a tool for evil." Miku explained.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Because, the human mind is fickle and sensitive, and something as simple as a song can change that mind forever. If a song, for example, started going on about how the world is a horrible place, everyone is truly ugly on the inside, God made us just so he could laugh at our pain, blah, blah, blah-all of that's just a load of bullcrap-then that song could quite possibly change an impressionable human. It could make that human careless and reckless, or maybe even make that human into a murderer."

"Wow…I never realized music was that powerful."

"Yes. That's something most humans don't realize within their lifetime." Miku said, turning deeply serious.

"So, to control the powers of music, the gods made 'Vocaloid', a synthesizer that gave off positive waves to the humans so that they would be encouraged to write virtuous songs to encourage other people to make the world a better place." She went on.

"Really? What about these songs? They don't sound very virtuous." I said, looking at a bunch of other Vocaloid songs.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Miku asked, suddenly pulling out of her serious mood.

"You know, songs like 'Sunset Suicide', 'Alice Human Sacrifice', 'Rotten Girl, Grotesque Romance', 'Song for Great-"

"Alright, alright! I get it! Okay, so some humans wanted to write some songs about death and destruction! But it's not because they have corrupted minds, or because they wanted to corrupt others! That's just how the Vocaloid fandom is!"

"Right…"

"But, here's where _I_ come in! Do you see how cute and adorable I am? How my figure just beckons to the buyers?" Miku said narcissistically.

"Um…I guess…"

"So, I'm so cute and peppy that everyone wants to buy me! All of the other Vocaloids before me didn't sell well because they looked boring and unappealing. But then, I came along and changed the world forever! And now that I'm all over the place, the virtue is just spewing out like a guy throwing up after a roller coaster ride!"

"Well…um…good, I guess…"

"…you do know that I was kidding about me being the prettiest, right? I'm not really a narcissist. I swear! Please don't think I'm a snob. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE DON'T THINK I'M-"

"-Calm down, Miku! I don't think you're a snob!"

"Oh. Well, that's good. Anyways, I am supposedly the chosen Vocaloid that is supposed to lead the world into a new golden age, or something like that. And, out of all of the other Mikus in the world, they gifted me with the power to pop in and out of the computer so that I can work my magic wherever I go! Isn't that awesome?" She smiled that big, bright smile of hers.

This was a lot to process in one day. Who is this blue-haired girl, coming out of my computer? And why does she love leeks so much?

"Okay…so, if you are truly god-sent, and you can pop in and out of my computer, then why don't you go back into my computer?" I asked.

"What? Is that all you want me to do to prove all of this? That's too easy!" Miku scoffed.

Miku walked up to the computer. She jumped into the air, and in a flash turquoise colored light, Miku was sucked into the computer.

I held my mouth open wide._ Dear god._

Miku appeared on the computer screen, much smaller now.

"Close your mouth, Bakura-kun! You're going to catch flies!" Miku giggled.

I gasped, and then everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Bakura-kun?..." A voice rang in my ears.

Somebody started poking my face with their finger.

"Bakura-_kuuuuuuuuuuuuun?_" The voice whined.

A hand slapped my face.

"WAKE UP, DAMN IT!"

I sat up, opening my eyes to the early morning sunlight. My eyes met with Miku's.

I sighed. "So it wasn't all just a crazy dream…"

"Yeah, and you're lucky to have me, right?" Miku said, narrowing her eyes at me.

"I'm…I'm sorry, but I have to go to school." I said, standing up.

"Oh! How interesting! Can I come?" Miku sprung to her feet.

"No, I'm sorry. You'll have to stay here."

Brought upon Miku's face was a look of pure disappointment, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Okay…" She said.

"R-Really?! It's okay?!"

"Yeah! Of course! I wouldn't want to get in the way of your education!"

She giggled pleasantly, but…

"Miku…do you promise that you will stay here? That you won't go anywhere?"

"Yes, sir!"

"You have to stay _right here_, okay? It's dangerous for you to go out alone."

"Okay!"

"And don't answer the door to anyone but me when I get home."

"Nag, nag, nag. You're such a worrywart, Bakura!"

"Please promise me this."

"Cross my heart and hope to d-…puke, stick a n-…cupcake in my eye."

Miku picked up my schoolbag and handed it to me. She started pushing me out of the front door.

"Don't break anything, and feel free to watch TV and eat your leeks, okay? Just don't leave this apartment."

"You've been wearing this same school uniform for the last three days, dude! It's starting to reek! Remind me when you get home for me to wash that thing, okay?"

"Just-"

"Yes, I know."

"But-"

"BYE!"

Those were her last were words said to me at that moment, as she slammed the door in my face.

_I hope she'll be okay…_

I started walking to school. I sniffed my uniform.

_Ugh, it does smell…I should've washed it last night…_

And I would have, if only she…if only she hadn't…well, I guess she didn't necessarily do anything bad, really…it's just…how is this happening? Out of all the things that have happened to me, I have to admit that this…is not the strangest thing that has happened to me. I guess weirder stuff has happened…

"Hey, Bakura."

I turned around and saw the woman who had been sitting on Miss Takanaga's couch with her yesterday.

"Oh, good morning, Miss, um…"

"Moyasu. Sana Moyasu."

"Miss…Moyasu. Did you need something?"

Miss Moyasu was a tall, wise looking woman. She had long, dark hair and dark eyes. She wore a gray vest over a black shirt, a pair of blue skinny jeans, and brown ankle boots.

"Yes…I was wondering who you were talking to last night." She asked.

Uh-oh. She heard me and Miku?

"Wh-What?! Oh, yes, that! I was talking to a, um…friend on the phone! Yeah, that was it!"

"Really? Then that was one long phone call."

"Yeah, we were planning a trip to the mall or something…"

"How nice."

"Yep! Now, I've got to go! Goodbye!"

I ran as fast as I could from the woman. Why was she so interested in what I was doing last night, anyways? Well…I guess me and Miku were pretty loud…

When I finally got to school that morning, everyone was talking about something.

"Hey, Bakura! Did ya hear?" Jonouchi asked.

"Hear what?"

"There's a new kid transferring to our class today!"

"That's interesting. Who is it?"

"I dunno. They haven't said yet. But, the thing that's really causing all the buzz is how the kid got here."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Well…they say the kid just randomly popped over here this morning and demanded to go to school here. They say the guy was so intimidating that the guy was accepted immediately."

"Really? They just let him in? Just like that?"

"Yup. No registration forms or anything. They just threw a uniform to 'im and said, 'You're coming here.' Isn't that crazy?"

"Wow…I've never heard of anything like that before…"

The bell rang and class began.

"Did you see her _hair_? It's almost as weird as Yugi's!" A girl whispered to her friend.

"I know! It's crazy!" Her friend replied.

The teacher walked into the room, the new student following behind him. When I saw who the new student was, I tried refrain from screaming.

"Good Morning, class. This is a new student, uh…"

All eyes were on the new student. It was a girl, about five feet tall, blue eyes, and she had really, _really _long turquoise hair in pigtails. She wore the Domino High School girl's uniform.

She giggled. "Why, I'm Miku Hatsune! Pleased to meet you!"

That period ended with a crowd surrounding Miku's desk.

"I love your hair! It's so unusual, but I think it's pretty!" A girl commented.

"Thank you," Miku smiled.

"You're so cute! What do you do to your face to make it so flawless?" Another girl asked.

"Vegetables. Lots of vegetables." Miku replied.

"Is your name really Miku Hatsune? Just like that anime girl on NicoNico?" Another person in the crowd asked.

"Yep. Weird coincidence, huh?"

"Say, are you single?" A boy asked Miku.

I pushed my way through the bunches of people and stopped at Miku's desk.

"Hey, Miku! I think we need to talk!" I said as calm as I could, holding back my anger.

"Really? Who are you, dear sir? I don't think I've ever met you before."

Miku grinned evilly.

_Don't start yelling, don't start yelling…please, anything but that…_

"Oh, lucky Miku…she gets Bakura all to herself! I wish I was as pretty as her…" A girl moaned.

"Me too!" Another agreed.

"Come on, Miku. Let's go talk…"

I held my hand out to her.

"…in _private_."

As me and Miku walked out of the room, I could hear almost every girl in class moan in disappointment.

"WHAT ARE YOU _DOING?!_ YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD STAY AT HOME!" I yelled at Miku.

"Hey! Don't yell! You'll cause a scene!" Miku said. "Anyways, how do you expect me to just sit at home alone all day? It's lonely, and the TV won't keep me entertained forever, you know!"

She had a point. Maybe I was being a bit too overprotective.

"Look on the bright side! I'm in a place where you'll always know where I am, and I'll walk home with you every day! I'm also getting a good education, and lots of love from my adoring fans!" Miku went on.

"But…"

"But what?"

_How did this even happen? This is all happening way too fast. How did this strange girl get into my school? _

"F…fine. Just…don't do anything stupid, okay?" I sighed.

"KYA! REALLY?! YOU'RE ALL GOOD WITH THIS?! WOO-HOO!" Miku screeched as she hugged me tightly.

"Agh…Miku…I can't…breathe…"

"If you're still talking, you're still breathing!" Miku said, hugging me tighter.

"AH! BAKURA-KUN!"

Miku stopped hugging me as soon as the voice behind me screamed those words. I didn't care who said it-I'm just glad I get to breathe again.

"Who's that?" Miku asked.

I turned around and saw a single teenage girl standing behind me. She was petite and pleasant looking, her long, purple hair tied up in a yellow ribbon. The girl's purple eyes stared Miku down with anger.

_Oh, no…not her again…_

"M-Miku…have you met Miho Nosaka?" I stuttered.

"Why, no, I haven't. So good to meet you, Nosaka-san. I'm Miku Hatsune." Miku said, holding her hand out to shake Miho's hand.

Miho ignored the kind gesture and began yelling again.

"What in the world were you doing, mooching on Miho's innocent Bakura-kun?" Miho said angrily.

_Mooching?_

"I was only giving my dear friend a kindly hug. Is that a crime?" Miku said, speaking in her proper voice again.

"That didn't look like a kindly hug to Miho! You weren't…no…you couldn't have been…FRENCHING BAKURA?!"

"Pardon me?"

"YOU HEARD ME! YOU WERE ALL OVER HIS TONGUE, WEREN'T YOU?! HOW DARE YOU!" Miho continued to make a fuss.

Miho Nosaka, one of the first people I met when I came to this school, is a kind girl who has a strong determination to keep her friends safe. But…I'm pretty sure she has a crush on me. I mean, she hasn't come right out and said it, but…to sum it up, if any girl other than her were to seemingly hit on me or ask me out, _she _is the one you have to go through first. I don't hate her, it's just…_why_?

"MIHO WILL NOT ALLOW THIS! NO SHE WON'T!" Miho yelled.

"Hey, Bakura. Why does this kid keep on talking in the third person? Is she a nut?" Miku whispered, annoyed.

"MIHO IS NOT A NUT! SHE'S JUST INCREDIBLY CUTE, THAT'S ALL!" Miho screamed, hearing Miku's whisper.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Miku said, pulling me by the hand.

"HEY! WAIT!" Miho yelled at us.

But it was too late. We were out of there in a nanosecond.

"God, you sure do have some crazy-ass fan-girls, Bakura!" Miku told me, the two of us in a different hallway.

"Miku! They're not-"

"They are."

"…Well…"

"So, anyways…I've been meaning to ask you about something." Miku said, scratching her head.

"About what?" I asked.

"About this weird thingymajitus I found…"

Miku pulled something out of her jacket pocket. It was a ring-shaped pendant, with a triangle in the middle of it, and in the middle of the triangle, an eye.

"I mean, what the hell _is _this thing? It looks like a damn torture device! Why do you keep this in your home?" Miku said, holding the string the pendant was dangling on.

"Th…That's my Millennium Ring! What are you doing with it?!" I swiped the ring from Miku's hands.

"Well, I was over here, and I was over there, wandering all over your apartment due to boredom. Then, I found _that _on the floor! It was under your computer desk when I found it. I guess it fell off while you were asleep, huh?"

"Yeah…I guess…"

"But what is it FOR?! Do you use it to practice satanic rituals? Do you contact aliens on Mars with it? Or, is it just a back-scratcher?"

"That's what I'd like to know. I don't know its purpose, or how it was made…all I know is that my father brought it back from his trip to Egypt."

"Oh…that's good, I guess. I was gonna say, 'Man, this kid is _weird_! What made him get this? Maybe he hallucinates or something. Does he see spots? Does he speak to Elvis?'"

There was an awkward silence between the two of us for a moment.

"…What? 'Do I see spots? Do I speak to Elvis?' What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"What, you don't get it? It's a line from the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' movie! 'Cuz, you know, when that guy told her she was a vampire slayer, Buffy was all like, 'Do you see spots? Do you speak to Elvis?' Because, most people consider others who go about talking about vampires and stuff being real is crazy or insane, so…yeah."

"Wha…you're…"

I couldn't help but laugh. I burst out laughing, and Miku looked at me funny.

"What? It wasn't _that _funny."

"No…you just made it ten times more funny by going on about in that way."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

Miku seemed confused, but gradually, she smiled again.

"You know…your laugh…"

"Huh? What about it?"

"It's really…sweet."

"_AWWWWW! _It's _SWEET_!" A voice behind Miku and me laughed.

We turned to see Jonouchi, along with Honda, Anzu, and Yugi.

"Oh, guys! You heard all that?" I asked.

"Yeah! That was hilarious! 'Do you see spots? Do you speak to Elvis?' I almost laughed my ass off!" Jonouchi grinned.

"And the whole 'sweet laugh' thing? I'd just like to say-" Honda said before he joined with Jonouchi to start singing.

"MIKU AND BAKURA, SITTIN' IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST COMES LOVE, SECOND COMES MARRIAGE, THIRD COMES THE BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!" Jonouchi and Honda sang together.

"G-GUYS! KNOCK IT OFF!" I yelled, my face getting hot.

"Come on, guys! Quit teasing him!" Anzu said.

"It's not teasing if it's the truth!" Jonouchi said.

Miku stood a little farther away from everybody else. Bakura and his friends were teasing him about his so-called 'crush'. But, what nobody was paying attention to the pendant in Miku's hands. Bakura carelessly shoved the Millennium Ring into his pocket, not knowing it had fallen out.

_Silly Bakura, _Miku thought. _If this thing is so important to him, then why doesn't he take better care of it?_

Miku's mouth fell open when she looked down again at the pendant. For some reason or the other, it was, well…_pointing _at Yugi.

_What the hell?_

Miku picked and prodded at the ring. She shook it and pressed down on it, but it wouldn't stop pointing at Yugi.

_How in the world is it doing that? Do I push a button or something?_

After sitting and staring at it for a few moments, Miku finally came to a conclusion.

_Oh, I get it! It's some sort of fancy, foreign backscratcher slash massager! And it's got some sort of motion sensor that I triggered when I picked it up! Huh…but what a weird design for a backscratcher slash massager. Why is that eye there, anyways?_

Miku figured Bakura just had a strange taste in backscratchers. (It didn't really matter to Miku what a backscratcher looked like. A backscratcher is a backscratcher, dude. You don't need it to come from Egypt for it to be good. All you need is a fork, or a…it seems I'm getting off track here.)

_Oh well. Whatever. _

"Hey, Bakura! I found out what this is!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I'm sorry, Hatsune-san, but I'm positive that the Millennium Ring is not a backscratcher slash massager." Yugi said.

"WHAT?! IT'S NOT?! But…then…how…" Miku stammered.

"How what?" Yugi asked.

"How…you know…it wiggled and jiggled…"

"Pardon me?" Yugi tilted his head in confusion.

"-IT FRIGGIN' MOVED, DAMN IT! I KNOW IT DID! IT WAS POINTING RIGHT AT YA!" Miku yelled.

"-Oh."

"Yeah, 'Oh'! What was that? 'Cuz I'd really like to know!"

Everybody stiffened up. Not a word was said to answer Miku's question.

"So, uh…what about that airplane food?" Jonouchi said.

"I like it."

"Yeah, it's…it's okay."

"Guys, I'm being serious. What the hell is going on here?"

The bell rang for class, loud enough to pop your eardrums.

_Thank goodness…_

"Wha-? H-HEY! COME BACK HERE! ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Miku yelled.

"Sorry! I've got math! Wouldn't want to be late!" Jonouchi yelled back to Miku, running down the hallway.

"Never thought you'd say that, didn't ya?" Honda snickered, following Jonouchi.

"Shut up…" Jonouchi moaned.

"GUYS! W-WAIT! COME ON! YOU GUYS!...guys?"

Miku stood alone in the middle of an empty, dreary hallway.

"Oh…darn it!" Miku groaned and stomped to class.

"What the hell is she doing?!" A tall girl with long, pink hair yelled.

"Don't worry, Luka. I'm sure that she'll be just fine." A shorter, gentler girl said to the other. This girl had short green hair, and she wore goggles atop her head.

"But of all of the people who had to get the software! Of all of the people, that little _moron _had to get her! I just don't understand, Gumi!" The pink-haired girl yelled again.

"Agh, will you calm down? You're not helping my headache with all of your yellin'!" Another girl said. She stood with the girls, holding her head in her hands. This girl was dressed in red, and her hair was short and brown.

"You shouldn't have drunken all of that sake then, Meiko. It's not good for you." A girl even taller than the pink-haired girl said. This girl's hair was pure white. It went past her waist it was so long. She had it tied back in a ponytail.

"Look who's talkin'! You ain't any better, Haku!" Meiko replied.

"I know how you feel, Meiko-chan! When I eat lots and lots and lots of ice-cream, I get these horrible headaches-"

"-Yes, Kaito dear, we _all _know about your ice-cream habits." Meiko said to Kaito, a tall boy with short blue hair.

A pair of petite, teenage twins stood hand in hand. One was a girl, a big white bow tied in her short blond hair. The other was a boy, his short blond hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Len, what are we going to do? Miku's going to get hurt if she stays with that boy! We have to go get her out of there! We have to-"

"-Rin, if this is what the gods want her to do, then this is what she'll do. I promise that everything will come out alright in the end, okay?" Len pressured his worried sister.

"Okay…if you say so…" Rin agreed.

"Aw, you two are so cute! Look at you guys, so _widdle_ and _small_! The big brother protecting his little sister! It's so sweet!" Gumi said, pinching Rin's and Len's cheeks.

"Knock it off, Gumi!" Len said, pushing Gumi away.

"Yeah! Besides, _I _came out first!" Rin said.

"No you didn't! We come in the same software, doofus!" Len argued.

"Well, _I'm _in front of you! You just stand in my shadow!"

"Bleh!" Len stuck his tongue out at Rin.

"BLEH!" Rin stuck hers out too.

"BLEH!"

"BLEH!"

"-Yes girls, you're _BOTH_ pretty! NOW SHUT THE HELL UP!" Meiko yelled.

"Neru, take a picture of them with your phone! They're in cute mode!" Gumi said to another petite blond-haired girl, except her waist-long hair was tied in a ponytail that hung on the right side of her head. Neru texted on her cellphone, which was the same color as her hair.

"No. Busy." Neru said blankly, not looking up from her phone.

"Aw, but _Neeeeeeeeruuuuuuuu!" _Gumi whined.

"-WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT SHUTTING THE HELL UP?" Meiko interrupted.

Gumi immediately stiffened up and closed her mouth.

Luka rolled her eyes at the craziness of her friends.

"It's just…I wish I knew that she was in safe hands. I just can't trust someone so important with some spazzy little kid with…" Luka shuddered. "…_that._"

"'That'? You mean his hair? I know, it's so weird looking! Why would a guy have such long hair, anyways?" Len said.

"Pot and Kettle, Len." Rin said.

"What?"

"I was talking about that ring of his, silly." Luka said, flicking Len's nose with her finger.

"HEY!" Len yelled, hands on his nose.

"But there's no reason to worry, Luka. The gods said Miku would unlock her full potential with that boy. She'll be just fine." Haku reassured Luka.

"Yes…but…I'm scared that the gods may be wrong."

"But the gods _can't _be wrong…can they?"

"GOD HAS _WRONGED _ME!" Jonouchi yelled, sitting down to eat lunch with his friends.

"How so?" Miku asked, biting into her leek.

"I don't wanna say it…"

Honda pulled a piece of paper out of Jonouchi's hands.

"H-HEY!" Jonouchi yelled, grabbing for his paper.

Honda studied the paper carefully.

"A 38 on your math test. Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

"IT'S NOT LIKE I ASKED YA TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT!" Jonouchi yelled, grasping his test paper yet again.

"You sort of did," Honda said.

"I-I did?"

"Uh-huh." Miku agreed.

"Walked right into it." Anzu nodded.

"You really need to study more. Put at least a little bit of effort into your schoolwork." Honda sighed.

"I POUR MY VERY HEART AND SOUL INTO MY SCHOOLWORK! I SWEAR, THIS MUST BE THE WORK OF SOMETHING UNEARTHLY, 'CUZ I-"

"-So Miku, where are you from?" Anzu asked.

_Uh-oh…_

"Uh…she's from, uh…" I cleared my throat. "…O-Osaka."

"Osaka?" Anzu said.

"Yeah! She's a true Osakan, alright! Right, Miku?"

Miku looked up at me, her mouth full of leek. It was all over her face, too.

"Osaka? Oh, yes…y'all." Miku then went on crunching her vegetable.

"Really? You don't seem to be the Osakan type." Anzu said.

"Oh, I'm Osakan here, I'm Osakan there, I'm all over with this Osaka stuff." Miku went on.

"Let's give you a test to see if you're a _real _Osakan!" Jonouchi yelled. "How do you feel about Takoyaki?"

Miku thought for a moment before giving a reply.

"I think it's kick ass."

…

"Yeah, she's definitely from Osaka." Jonouchi confirmed.

School came and went, and Miku and I walked home together.

"Bakura! Bakura! Bakura! Bakura!" Miku jumped up and down.

"Yes?"

"What was that thingy?"

"Oh no, not that again…"

"TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME!"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

"IF IT'S NOTHING, THEN WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT IT?!"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Dude. Seriously. Do you hear yourself?"

I sighed. "Okay…it's kind of…well…it's-"

"-HEY, YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"HUH?"

Miku ran in front of me to see Miss Moyasu, who was standing in front of the front door to my apartment. The door was open for some reason.

"What are you doing, loitering in front of Bakura's home? Are you a hobo, 'cuz I still won't make any ex-WHOA."

Miku stopped speaking to Miss Moyasu to look over her shoulder into my apartment.

"Ma'am? What's wrong? Why is the door open?" I asked.

Miss Moyasu had a worried look on her face.

"I went out today with Kagome, but when I came back with her…well…see for yourself."

I looked behind her and gasped. The whole apartment was absolutely trashed. Everything was turned over upside down or on its side. A lamp was broken and the TV sat on its side, its screen cracked. The couch was turned upside down, and its cushions were torn out and thrown all over the place.

"Wh-What?! What happened here?!" I asked.

"It looks like you've been robbed." Miss Moyasu replied.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Miku screeched.

She ran into the apartment recklessly. She jumped over the fallen furniture and into the kitchen. Miku looked at the fridge, which was on its back on the floor. It had fallen to where its doors were facing up. Miku opened the door and sighed with relief.

"OH, THANK GOD!"

She pulled a bunch of ripe, green vegetables out of the fridge. She held them as if they were her children.

"IT'S ALRIGHT, THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE LEEKS!" Miku yelled.

I took one step into the apartment and fell to my knees.

"Who…who would do this? Wh-why?..."

"Oh, Bakura-san…I'm so sorry…" Miss Moyasu said.

"Well, what the hell are we doing just standing here? Let's call the police!" Miku said, dropping her leeks to the floor. "Where's the phone?"

"I have my cell," Miss Moyasu said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Why didn't you call them before?!" Miku yelled in Miss Moyasu's face.

"I-I Just wanted to wait and see if you wanted to or not…"

"Of_ course _we would want you to call them, you stupid-"

"-Miku, that's _enough! _Leave her alone! This wasn't her fault!"

"…Fine."

Miku tore the phone out of Miss Moyasu's hands.

"I'll call them myself, thank you very much." Miku growled.

As Miku called the police, I just sat there, not saying a word. Why would this happen to me, of all people? Why…?

"Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?" Miss Moyasu asked.

"I'd like it if you'd shut your trap." Miku said.

When Miku was done with her call, she threw the phone to Miss Moyasu without warning. She barely caught it.

"They said they would be here in a bit." Miku said.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

"Ah, come on! Don't be a sissy! Get up!" Miku said.

"But…Miku…"

"No sir! You get up right now, young man!" She continued.

I got to my feet as she told me to.

"Now, wipe your eyes! We are _not_, under any circumstances, going to cry! Do you understand?"

"O-okay…"

"We aren't going to be weak little crybabies about this! The police will show up and we'll find the asshole who did this! Got it?"

"Yes…"

"Alright! Now, I'm going to eat some leeks to take the edge off, okay?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Why the hell would they look in the fridge for anything? Do they think they're gonna find money in there?"

"Miku, I don't the fridge is that important right now…"

"But seriously, look at this! They poured the milk out of the carton and ALL OVER THE FRIDGE! Do they think we planted diamonds in there or something? Jeez, what a dumb-ass thief! Say, what time is it?"

I looked at my watch. "9:40."

"Really?! We ought to get to school, then! Wash your face! Comb your hair! Shine your shoes! Brush your-"

"-I meant 9:40 _PM_, not AM."

"-Oh…that joke was in bad taste, wasn't it?"

"That was a joke?" I asked.

"'Was that a joke?' Look, now you've just gone and made me feel bad! My comedic glory is world renowned, and you've just insulted it!" Miku pouted.

"I didn't mean it that way, I just-"

"-_kidding. _I'm so funny, right? Now go to bed."

"What?"

"Go…to…bed. Is that hard to understand?"

"But, Miku, I can't just-"

"-Sleep after an incredibly and ridiculously hard day? I think that it's not too much to ask for, don't you think so?"

"Okay, but where will you sleep?"

"I've got that covered. You just go turn in for the night, got it?" Miku smiled and winked.

"…Alright. Good night."

"Night, Raggedy Ann."

"Huh?"

"BYE!"

Miku shoved me into my bedroom and shut the door. I looked around the room. Anything and everything in the room was either turned over or on its side. Nothing was left untouched.

I lifted the bed up and put the mattress back into place. I didn't care about the rest of the room. I would fix it tomorrow…wait…WAIT A SECOND…

I got up and ran down the hall and opened a door to another room. When I opened the door, I fell to my knees again.

Miku came up behind me. "What's the prob, Bob?"

"Who's Bob?" I asked.

"Figure of speech-and OH MY GOD."

You see, I was into something called "Monster World", a tabletop role-playing game. I put a lot of hard work into making the whole thing, and the result-total destruction. Guess the burglar looked in here, too.

"Dude, they ruined your dollhouse!" Miku yelled.

"Hey! It's not a dollhouse!"

"Oh, well _excuse me_, Ryou. I meant your _princess castle_."

"Quit teasing me, Miku! This isn't funny! Do you know hard I worked on this?"

"Well, you obviously put a lot of time and money into your little fantasy land, I can see that…" Miku looked at the remains of the RPG.

"But you don't understand! It meant much more to me than that! I worked hard on every little detail, and all of my hard work is ruined…"

"Aw, you're a _nerd!_" Miku said, thinking she unraveled some sort of mystery.

"…Excuse me?"

"Yeah, dude! You're a total geek! You're a man-dork over this thing! You're like one of those…what do you call it…online game addicts or whatever!"

My stomach turned.

"Miku, there is a _huge,_ and I mean _HUGE_ difference between tabletop RPG players and online game addicts. One difference is that I don't constantly obsess over games on the internet." I explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend you?" Miku said sarcastically.

I sighed. "No, Miku, I was just trying to say-"

"-So, if I walk up to a, shall we say, much more violent tabletop RPG player and say, 'You must really like online games, right?' or vice versa, would you guys, I dunno…send an elf after me or something as revenge?" Miku laughed.

"Miku…"

"Oh, I can imagine it now-'OH GOD, MIKU! I SAID TO AN ONLINE GAME ADDICT THAT HE MUST REALLY LIKE TABLETOP RPGS TOO, AND NOW HE'S SENT A HOBBIT AFTER ME! EEEEK!'" Miku mocked me, using crazy hand gestures and facial expressions while doing so.

"If you said that to anyone else but me, I'm sure you'd end in up in a hospital for the night."

"HUH?"

I pictured Miku in my mind with some other person into a certain gaming franchise picking a fight with her. All I can say is, I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty.

"But anyways, what were we talking about again? Oh, yes! Your home has been ransacked and your ever-so-holy toys have been completely destroyed in the process!" Miku smiled.

_You might as well just beat me up and take my lunch-money. Since that pretty much just happened, I guess she's just rubbing lemonade in my wounds…_

"Don't be so blue, Bakura! We'll come back from this!"

"How? How in the world will we ever come back from this?"

Miku got down on her knees and sat with me on the floor. She slapped my back and she cleared her throat.

"Me, being a somewhat otaku-" She began.

"-Somewhat? You watch every anime that pops on screen."

"Now, don't go changing the subject. Like I was saying…through all my years of watching anime-six years and counting-I've seen my fair share of anime. And I've learned a lot of lessons from them, too. I heard a praise that was said numerous times throughout this one episode of an anime called _Fruits Basket_. Wanna know what it was?"

"…okay…"

"'No matter how cold it is during the winter, no matter how much snow there is, spring will always come through, without fail.'"

"That's…sweet."

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT, IT'S SWEET! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING TO USE THAT QUOTE FOR SOMETHING?! THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!"

"I'm glad that you found success in something today. Now, I think it's time for bed."

"Aw, come on! Now that I'm all hyped up, I'm not sleepy anymore!"

"No, go on."

"BUT_ BAKURA!_"

"Miku…"

She scowled and stood up.

"Fine. I'll go to bed…IF YOU CAN TAKE ME ALIVE!"

Miku took off down the hallway, and about five seconds later, I heard a loud crash.

"It's okay! I didn't break anything! M-Maybe this lamp right here, but everything else is okay!" She yelled to me.

_**The Next Day**_

"~Po-pi-po-pi-po, po-PI-po..." Miku sang while walking down the sidewalk.

"What in the world are you going on about this time?" I asked.

"It's Popipo!" Miku said, looking at me like I was stupid.

"…Remind me, what is this…'Popipo'?"

"Ugh! Vegetable juice!"

"Right, right…"

"You know, you need some culture in your life, Bakura. You can't just sit there twiddling on alone. You know why? Because you don't even know what 'Popipo' is!"

"Yes, I'll work on that."

Miku glared at me. "…Is this sarcasm I hear?"

Before I could respond to Miku, Jonouchi ran up to the two of us.

"Bakura! You gotta come see this!" He said.

"See what-okay, you're dragging me…"

"HEY, BUDDY! YOU BETTER KEEP THOSE HANDS ON THE ARMS AND NOWHERE ELSE, GOT IT?" Miku yelled, following me and Jonouchi.

"Jeez, is she always like this?"Jonouchi asked.

I nodded.

"Phew! I pity you, kid!"

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Miku screeched.

Once the three of us entered our homeroom classroom, we stopped dead in our tracks, our jaws dropped as we stared at the wreck that was sitting in front of us.

"Holy shit," Miku cursed.

"True that," Jonouchi said.

How bad was this "wreck" in the classroom? Well, first of all, there were several desks scattered around the classroom, some broken, some not. The windows were broken, and glass was all over the floor. And on the chalkboard was the most surprising part of the mess-written in chalk upon the board was "Drop the ring and the girl and this will end."

Several other students stared and whispered. Everyone wondered why this happened and why that statement was written on the board.

"Do you think…this is for you?"Jonouchi asked.

"It couldn't have been…no way…" Miku gasped and put her hands over her mouth. She looked at me and grabbed ahold of my arm.

"And I'm being dragged again,"

"W-wait! Where are you going?!" Jonouchi yelled.

Miku dragged me until we came to an empty hallway where no one could hear us.

"OH MY GOD," Miku's expression became over-exaggeratedly freaked out. "DO YOU THINK THAT WAS DONE BY THE SAME DUDE WHO MESSED UP YOUR APARTMENT? OH MY GOD, IT SO WAS, WASN'T IT? OH MY GOD, SOMEONE WANTS TO KIDNAP ME AND TAKE YOUR EGYPTIAN BACKSCRATCHER!"

Even if Miku was the number one over-exaggerater, she was right. Whoever wrecked my apartment was the one who wrecked the classroom. Okay, I can understand yet another crazy person going after the Millennium Items and my Millennium Ring, but what was the point of going after Miku as well? Unless…someone knew about her powers.

"Who did this? I'll mess them up, man! I'll shove a leek so far up their ass that they'll be tasting vegetables for the rest of their LIVES! Their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren-"

"-Shh. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

I looked down either sides of the hallway.

"I thought I heard someone." I said.

"REALLY? YOU HEARD SOMEONE WALK DOWN A HALLWAY? _IN A SCHOOL?_ THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST RIDICULOUS THINGS I'VE EVER HEARD!"

"…Sorry. I guess I'm just…nervous."

"Uh, no kidding! Someone broke into your apartment and now they're threatening you at your school too? I think I'd be nervous too! In fact, I _am _nervous!" Miku shivered.

"There he is!" A voice from down the hall yelled.

"HEY! BACK OFF! IF YOU THINK THAT YOU'RE GONNA HURT US, THEN-oh, it's just you guys." Miku said.

Yugi, Jonouchi, Honda, and Anzu stood in front of us.

"We heard about what happened," Yugi said.

"We're worried about you, Bakura! Is everything okay?" Anzu asked.

"Who'd you piss off this time, Bakura?" Honda asked.

"You guys…"

"WHAT'S HAPPENING? WHAT IS IT THIS TIME? AX-MURDERER? ALIEN OCTOPUS? CRAZY FAN-GIRLS? WHAT?!" Jonouchi yelled.

"Calm down, Jonouchi. You're hyperventilating. Bakura, we want you to know that we'll be there for you, okay? It's okay if you want to tell us anything." Anzu said.

"What do you mean? I don't have any problems!"

"BAKURA…" Everyone grumbled.

"Um…well…"

Anzu smiled warmly.

"You see, a long time ago, Jonouchi, Honda, Yugi and I were in a little…'situation' that we thought we'd never make out of alive."

"Death-T," Jonouchi shivered at the thought of it.

"Yes. So, I took out a marker and drew something on all of our hands." Anzu went on.

"Huh?"

"I know, it sounds weird, but…I drew a smiley face. It stood for our friendship, meaning no matter how hard the situation got, no matter how far away we were from each other, we would still all be friends. We would always be there for each other, and the smile was a symbol of it. Though, of course, it was washed off of our hands after a while…"

"…but to us, the symbol is still there." Yugi smiled.

"Yep. So just think of that…the smiley face, and remember that we're there for you."

Miku sniffled and started tearing up. "Oh gosh, you guys…you guys are _so sweet_…oh, wait!" Miku dug into her pocket for something. What we saw Miku pull out was a black marker.

"You guys ever heard of Black Rock Shooter?" She said, holding the marker while smiling.

"HUH?" We all said together in unison.

Miku cleared her throat. "Black Rock Shooter is a song that was written by a man that goes by the name of 'ryo'-and no, I'm not talking about Bakura-and it's about, pretty much, Black Rock Shooter."

"Is this going anywhere?" Honda asked.

"I'm getting there! Don't get your granny panties all up in a bunch!" Miku sighed. "Anyways, the singer of the song goes on about she can't be strong without Black Rock Shooter, but finds strength in hope. And before you go on saying 'But what does hope have to do with anything? It's stupid! Waaah!' let me tell you about hope; it provides strength when it seems like there isn't any left; it gives people enough faith to make their dreams come true.; it's what keeps us alive."

"Wow. That's…deep." Anzu said.

"Indeed it is. So, to me, Black Rock Shooter is the embodiment of hope, because wherever she goes, she brings hope and strength with her. So now, if you could all do me the fine pleasure of holding out your hands…"

We all held out our hands to Miku, and then she joined her hand with ours. She drew a star on our hands.

"A star?" Yugi said.

"Yeah. That's Black Rock Shooter's symbol. So…the symbol of strength. The symbol of hope."

"Wow, Miku. I never knew you could be so-"

"-So totally awesome? I know, right?" Miku teased, sticking her tongue out. "Just remember…whenever you feel weak or worthless, remember hope. Find hope. You can find it in anything if you try hard enough. Basically, Bakura…I want you have hope. Don't let some stupid maniac take it away from you. That goes for the rest of you as well."

"Yeah…hope." Jonouchi said.

"Well, you sure did out-beat Anzu's friendship speeches with your hope speech." Honda said.

"Thank you, Miku. I'll try to keep hope." I said.

"You better, kid! Or this whole well-planned-out speech was for nothing! NOTHING!"

"Don't worry, I think I'll remember this for a long time."

…

"Something bad is about to go down. I can feel it."

"You always say that! You're just trying catch attention, Luka!"

"Well…I mean this time. Something bad…with Miku."

"What?! You better not be kidding!"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I'm gonna go check on her!"

"Gumi, we were told not to interfere."

"Well, it's _your _fault that you've worried me, so I guess you'll get the blame, huh?" Gumi winked.

"You know, sometimes I think that those goggles strapped onto your head cut off the blood circulation to your brain, and that's why you think like that."

"WHAT?! IS THAT POSSIBLE?!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Jeez, you are _soooooo_ lazy! What, you have this perfect, expensive, state-of-the-art, fancy, and did I forget to mention, _expensive_ synthesizer in your possession and you don't even make any songs with it?!" Miku shouted, walking back and forth through the room.

"I'm sorry, but I have too much homework to get through. I can't waste time on writing songs! I don't even know how to work Vocaloid, much less come up with a song!" I yelled, frantically writing answers down on a math sheet.

Before anything more could be said, Miku snatched the paper I was working on out of my grasp, along with the other piles of homework on my desk. Miku carefully analyzed the papers before doing what seemed impossible; writing the answers down with inhuman speed (Quite possibly one-thousand miles per hour) and handing them to me. She looked as if she was doing something as simple as fetching a bottle of water for me.

"Done." Was her only response to it.

I, literally on the verge of passing out from sheer shock, took the papers into my hands once more, to see that the answers were all written such nice, clean handwriting, and all of the answers were, what I suspected to be…correct.

"Uhh," I stupidly said, not able to comprehend this. No words could describe what confusion and amazement I was feeling at that point in time.

"Now can we sing?" Miku asked.

"You said that you couldn't think like a computer," I said, finally getting air into my lungs.

Miku grinned wide. "I lied."

I found my face falling into my palm for the millionth time this month. Hanging out with Miku just made that happen to you. I started wondering if there was a huge bruise on my head as a result.

"Whatever, Miku. Just whatever…"

"Aw, thanks! You're so kind and considerate! Now, get to work, slave!"

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm mean SERVANT! Is that less degrading?"

There was a moment of silence between us.

"That wasn't very nice."

"Kid, is most the stuff that comes out of my mouth pleasant?"

"…Give me a second to respond to that…"

"Oh, and _I'm_ not very nice?"

Miku turned on the computer and set up the Vocaloid software.

"Okay, let's begin. First, to make a good song, you must have…"

Miku motioned to me, expecting an answer.

"…musical skills?" I guessed.

"That helps. But what I was looking for was…experience!"

"Experience?"

"Yes! Life experiences! You can't write your name without learning how to write first, yes?" Miku smiled.

"Okay, I see what you mean…"

"You can't just start singing about heartache if you haven't even felt it! It's hard to get the feel of an emotion in a song if you can't describe it just right, so we have to start with an experience you know all too well. You got any ideas?"

I thought for a moment. "Um…I think…well…I guess…"

"What? You can't think of _anything_? Anything at all? Come on! All humans have emotions! We laugh, we cry, we die a little on the inside, but that's okay, 'cuz we're human! So let out a song for me! Give me an idea!"

"Uh…well, why don't _you _sing about something you've experienced?"

"I experienced sitting in a little box for a couple of years until I was opened up by a nerd who loves RPGs. I think it would be better if you handled this one. You're more human than I am."

I sighed. "Fine. How about…a girl helping a guy out?"

"Like…how? Helping the guy get sick to healthy or lonely to in love?"

"I dunno. Maybe…the guy is picked by bullies a lot. The girl helps him."

"Okay, so we have lift off. Now give me the specifics. Is the guy being bullied because he did something bad, or for no good reason?"

"Oh, I don't know…no good reason?"

"His personality?"

"Stupid. Clumsy.

"And the girl?"

"Sassy and smart."

Miku sighed with relief. She looked thankful for the cooperation.

"Now, this isn't gonna turn into Kagerou Days, right?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Oh, never mind. Anyways, how does the girl help the boy?"

"Do I have to write this whole song by myself, or are you gonna help me out?"

"Alright, alright. The girl is like, 'Oh, tee-hee, if you don't have the strength to speak out, than let me sing out your feelings!'" Miku joked.

"'Tee-hee'?"

"'Tee-hee'!"

"Okay…"

"And, of course, since you can't come up with a good song to put this idea into, I guess I must come up with it myself."

"Miku…"

"What, do you have a better idea?"

"…No."

"Well, okay then! Let's get this party started!"

And so, me and Miku started on our very first song together. I gotta say, I never thought it would come to this. Well, the first part being a girl coming out of my computer and bossing me around, I did not see coming. But actually using the Vocaloid to make real music was surprising. And I couldn't remember having so much fun.

"So…what do we call it?" I asked during the project.

"The odds are against him! It's the end of his world! We'll call it 'Odds and Ends'!" Miku said.

"I don't think that's what they mean when they say odds and ends."

"Oh, you know I'm kidding! But the name fits, you have to admit."

"Yeah…'Odds and Ends'."

…

"Hey, Bakura. Bakura. BAKURA! WAKE UP!"

A hand slapped my face.

_Whoa. Déjà vu._

A opened my eyes to have the warm, Sunday morning sunlight embrace the room. I could hear birds chirping peacefully outside. All was normal and calm, until I noticed Miku was sitting on me.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey…" We both just stared at each other for a moment. "So, uh…you feel like getting off of me?"

"What? Oh, yeah…sorry…"

Miku held something big and clunky in her hands. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes to see her wearing my old Duel Disk.

"Miku! What are you doing with that?" I said, sitting up.

"What? It's not like I'm doing thing bad with it. Why are you freaking out?" Miku said.

"Well…I guess…I just…"

I took a good, long look at the Duel Disk. It was a device that you put on your wrist, and then you used it to duel (Meaning play the card game "Duel Monsters") with other people wherever you went. I got it during a Duel Monsters tournament called "Battle City" that took place a couple of months ago. I can't remember where I got because…well, that's a very long and complicated story that involves me getting stabbed in the arm. In fact, I should tell Miku to take that off. I think I might have gotten a little blood on it…

"I've heard about this! It's a duel disk, right?" Miku smiled, examining the Disk.

"Uh, Miku-"

"-By the way, I had to wipe some blood off of this earlier. Now, why did I have to do that?" Miku glared at me.

"Um…maybe you should just, you know…take it off and never put that back on again…" I mumbled.

Miku gasped. "DID YOU RIP THIS OFF FROM SOMEONE?! IS THAT WHY THERE'S BLOOD ON IT?! HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!" Miku pried the device off of her arm and threw it to the ground.

"No, I did not rip it off-well, at least I don't _think_ I did…did I? Oh god, I did, didn't I?"

"DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND, DAMMIT!" Miku started shaking me. She was freaking out immensely, but it was the kind of freaking out that was so ridiculous that it was a little funny.

"Um…I…have to go…" I broke from Miku's grip and ran to the door.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I need to get…milk from the store." I slipped my coat and shoes on as fast as humanly possible.

"There's a whole freaking gallon in the fridge that we haven't even opened yet!" Miku yelled as I left the apartment.

"Later,"

The wind was colder than usual today. I guess it wasn't as warm as I thought it was.

_Never mind that,_ I thought. _What am I going to do? I wanted to get through this without her finding out…oh god, why did this have to happen?_

…

A newly-awoken Yugi answered the phone.

"Hello? Game shop…" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"YUGI!" Miku yelled into the phone, causing Yugi to jump.

"M-MIKU! IS THIS YOU?! HOW'D YOU GET THIS NUMBER?!"

"A PHONEBOOK, STUPID! YOU EVER HEARD OF ONE? NOW LISTEN…WHAT DID BAKURA DO DURING BATTLE CITY?"

"Huh? Why are you asking that?" Yugi scratched his head.

"NEVERMIND THAT! JUST ANSWER ME!" Miku yelled even louder than before.

"O-Okay! He, uh…dueled against me and lost."

"_And?..._"

"Miku…just listen, okay? That's all you need to know. I know it sounds confusing right now, but just…don't bother Bakura about it, alright?" Yugi said, snapping out of his sleepy talk into a more serious tone.

"Yugi, is there something you guys are hiding from me? I'll understand, I promise you."

"That's just the thing…I don't think you would understand. Sorry…I got to go…bye." Yugi hung up in a hurry.

"What? Don't you hang up on me, dammit! Yugi…Yugi! Ah, for the love of god…why won't anyone tell me what's happening?" Miku hung the phone up.

She turned at looked at the Duel Disk she had set on the floor next to her feet. Miku picked it up and held it in her hands, thinking it was totally ridiculous to think of the device as such a thing, but she felt as if she were holding a murder weapon.

Miku shoved the disk into a plastic bag and walked outside with it. She was going to get someone to talk, no matter what. She had to know if Bakura was the boy Miku thought he was. Was he a thief? A liar? Some douchebag who sold illegal Egyptian back-scratchers? Or, worst of all…a murderer…a monster.

Miku was walking down the sidewalk when a familiar face greeted her.

"Hey, Miku! Is that you?"

It was a teenage boy with blond hair and hazel eyes. It seemed to be Katsuya Jonouchi.

"Oh, it's _you_. Are you going to ignore me too?" Miku scowled.

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

Before she could answer, Jonouchi looked down at Miku's plastic bag.

"Hey! Would you look at that!" He said, pulling it out.

"W-Wait!"

Jonouchi was holding Bakura's formerly bloodstained Duel Disk in his hands. He smiled at Miku.

"Oh, so you're becoming a duelist! You bought a Duel Disk!" He exclaimed.

"Well, I…um…say, Jonouchi."

"Yeah?"

"You and your friends wouldn't keep any secrets from me, right?" Miku asked, unsure.

"What? Of course not! We'd never do that! You can trust us, Miku!"

"You promise?"

"Of course!"

"Then…tell what went on during Battle City with Bakura. Did anything…strange or out of the ordinary happen to him then?"

Jonouchi's face turned pale white.

_Didn't see that coming_, he thought.

"Well, uh…let's get something to eat before we go into that, okay?" Jonouchi said, pointing at a Burger restaurant. "My treat."

_Free food? Sure, I can wait for an answer!_ "Sure!"

Moments later, Miku was nibbling on a cheeseburger as Jonouchi sat, merely staring at his. Within seconds, Miku finished up her snack and waited for an answer.

"Miku…you know in life, there a lot of weird things we can't explain, right?" Jonouchi said.

"Uh-uh…"

"Well…Bakura in Battle City was one of 'em. I'm mean, he didn't _kill _anybody…well, as far as I know…"

Miku jumped in her seat. "WHAT?!" She screeched. Suddenly, that cheeseburger didn't feel so right in her stomach.

"Yeah…so…Bakura went through a pretty rough time during Battle City. He…suffered. It was a very painful time for him. And most of us don't wanna bring up those bad memories. You see, we're not trying to keep secrets from you, Miku. We just want to live in right now and not in the past, okay?" Jonouchi explained.

"Okay…"

Jonouchi stood up, getting in a lighter mood. "So, whaddaya say we go make a deck for your new Duel Disk, Miku?"

"Huh?! But I-" Jonouchi pulled Miku up, dragging her with him down the sidewalk.

"Don't be so shy! We'll get the best cards we can find! And yours truly will teach you how to duel! Believe me, you're in good hands. I didn't get second place in Duelist Kingdom for nothing, you know!"

…


End file.
